PLYMOUTH, Mass. (Court TV) — For five weeks, jurors witnessed tension and tears inside a Massachusetts courtroom as Lindsay Clancy stood trial on charges that she murdered her children.
Clancy, 36, admitted to strangling her three young children with exercise bands in the family’s home on Jan. 24, 2023, but maintained that she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis and was commanded by an auditory hallucination to take her children’s lives. Prosecutors said that Clancy feigned psychosis and had chosen to kill her children because she was unhappy with her life.
Victims’ father testifies
The children’s father, Patrick Clancy, was the first witness to testify in the trial. Patrick Clancy was married to the defendant when she killed the children; after their deaths, the couple divorced, and Patrick Clancy has since remarried, he testified.
Patrick Clancy described his wife’s declining mental health and her struggle with postpartum depression and anxiety after giving birth to the couple’s youngest child, Callan.
Patrick Clancy said that he had been picking up dinner at a restaurant and running an errand at CVS when Lindsay Clancy killed the kids; the defendant then slashed her wrists and neck with a knife and threw herself out of a second-story window. Patrick Clancy described arriving back at the silent house before finding blood in the master bedroom and his wife in the snow outside. “She said, ‘I tried to kill myself,'” Patrick Clancy testified, saying that Lindsay Clancy told him the children were in the basement.
The 911 call
Patrick Clancy left the witness stand and the courtroom before prosecutors played his 911 call. The call was recorded as he asked for help for his wife in the snow; the recording continued as Patrick Clancy went back into the house and found his children dead in the basement.
Court TV’s camera inside the courtroom was ordered off while the call was played. Lindsay Clancy, jurors and people seated in the courtroom’s gallery were all seen crying during the call; Judge William Sullivan ordered a recess immediately after.
Lindsay Clancy’s psychiatrist
Lindsay Clancy’s psychiatrist was a key witness for the prosecution, as she testified that the defendant never revealed hearing voices or having any compulsions to hurt her children. Dr. Jennifer Tufts, who prescribed several different medications for the defendant, said that Lindsay Clancy suffered from postpartum depression, but not postpartum psychosis.
Under cross-examination, Tufts admitted that she never met Lindsay Clancy in person, never ordered any blood testing to determine the effects of the medications she was prescribing and that she had only become board certified in the days before she started treating the defendant.
Lindsay Clancy sobs in court
Lindsay Clancy was seen crying throughout the trial, but when the medical examiner began to testify to the injuries each of her children suffered, she was unable to control her emotions.
When the doctor described the ligature marks on each of the children’s necks, Lindsay cried, “I can’t do this,” through tears. The judge immediately paused court until the defendant could compose herself.
Hot mic moment
After the judge ordered the court into recess, someone could be heard whispering on a microphone inside the courtroom, saying, “Shut her up.” Lindsay Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, accused prosecutors of saying it in reference to his client’s tears. Prosecutors Jennifer Sprague and Shanan Buckingham both denied saying anything.
“Safe in Heaven”
A chaplain at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who saw Lindsay Clancy while she was being treated after her children’s deaths described her conversations with the defendant for the jury. Sheila Cavenaugh testified that Lindsay Clancy told her that she’d heard a voice that compelled her to kill her three young children. Cavenaugh said that Clancy told her she was glad the kids were “safe in Heaven.”
“Mortal sin”
The idea of mortal sin was brought up twice during the murder trial — and both times, jurors were instructed to disregard the comments.
Patrick Clancy’s mother, Susan Clancy, testified as the first defense witness that her daughter-in-law had been “begging for help” while struggling with her mental health after giving birth. During cross-examination, after confirming that Susan Clancy is Catholic, Buckingham asked whether “murder is considered a mortal sin[.]”
Dr. Kirk Heilbrun, a psychologist hired by the prosecution to testify as an expert, also referenced mortal sin, saying that the defendant’s actions were out of line with her Catholic beliefs.
Sullivan gave prosecutors a stern warning to talk to their witness to prevent any future religious references.
Smiling in court?
Reddington grew frustrated with one prosecution expert witness, Dr. Avram Mack, when the psychiatrist appeared to smile during cross-examination. “What are you smiling for? This is not funny, sir,” Reddington shot at Mack.
Andrea Yates
Andrea Yates stood trial for killing her children decades before Lindsay Clancy’s case and in a courtroom thousands of miles away, but the shadow of her case was felt in the Plymouth County courtroom.
Reddington highlighted the fact that two of the prosecution’s expert witnesses work for Park Dietz and Associates. Park Dietz was an expert witness at Yates’ first trial; his testimony was found to be inaccurate and led to voiding Yates’ conviction. At a second trial, Yates was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
A fellow labor and delivery nurse who worked with Lindsay Clancy testified that she had discussed Yates’ case with the defendant years prior. She recalled that Lindsay Clancy cried after learning about the case, saying she couldn’t understand why any mother would hurt her children.
Compelling closing arguments
Both the prosecution and defense delivered compelling closing arguments, with Reddington slamming coins down on a table as he challenged the state’s case.
Law&Crime’s Sierra Gillespie, who was inside the courtroom during closing arguments, noted that one juror appeared to be holding back tears during Reddington’s closing argument.
Jennifer Sprague, delivering the closing argument for the Commonwealth, picked up each coin that Reddington left behind as she told the jury that Lindsay Clancy meticulously plotted her children’s deaths.
The jury began its deliberations on Thursday.
